Holidays!I've been working for a couple of months and it was time for a little holiday. So I went to go on a trek to Annupurna Base Camp which can be found at 4130m above sea level... It was the most physically enduring thing I have done in my life to date I think. I'm taking an actual holiday now...
So after a 7 hour bus journey I arrived in Pokhara about 12 days ago - it's a town where you're surrounded by the mountains and a lake and its supposed to be really beautiful. It was very cloudy and rained when Angie and I arrived. Angie is Marianne's friend who went with me, Marianne had a dodgy knee and couldn't go in the end. The town had a chilled out vibe which seemed somewhat dampened by the weather. We only stayed one day and a night before heading off on our trek with Mani our guide.
Day 1:
trekked for about 5 and a half hours after a 2 hour taxi ride to our starting point Nayapul (probably spelt that wrong) It was an enjoyable day, starting gently through some towns on easy terrain but finally reaching steps that led upwards towards Ulleri (2073m). he lodges were all fairly basic. Rooms separated by a thin sheet of plywood, 2 beds squeezed into a room with enough space for one person to walk down the middle usually. They are quaint looking but cold - especially at altitude. Thankfully this was one of the few with a hot electric shower. Mmmm. Angie and I drank tea and ate biscuits (I ate slightly more) We had simple dinners and went to bed at about 8.
Both Angie and I woke in the night, I felt strange, probably needed the toilet so went but still felt strange when I returned, I told Angie I felt sick and she said she already had been and was going to make herself sick again. while she was in the squat toilet doing that I realised I too did need to vomit... where to go - we were upstairs and there was no other toilets. I went downstairs but the door to outside was locked! slight panic... I had to be sick over the edge of the balcony upstairs. I checked in the morning what I'd puked on - thankfully it was just unused ground slightly above where people are walking so I dont think anyone will have noticed... the birds will be able to feast on that little treat and no one will be any the wiser - other than Angie who I told in the morning.
Day 2:
Couldn't face breakfast and tried to sleep more. Mani wanted me to eat something; he just settled for just carrying my sleeping bag and toiletry bag that day. I think all three of us are pretty stubborn in our own ways. My instincts not to eat were right though, after about 50 steps upwards I vomited again by the side of the steps near some logs. It was a little embarrassing. Mani had been saying I wouldn't be able to walk without having breakfast as I'd have nothing in my stomach - I pointed out after the vomiting that NOW I didn't have anything in my stomach. Afterwards I felt a little better, I think it must have been something I ate... I did see the lodge man handling an uncooked chicken before preparing our meals, but all our food was cooked. Who can say - Mani reckons maybe we walked too far and couldn't cope - balderdash!
This day was supposed to be an easy day but it really didn't feel so - probably as I wasn't eating much. Angie and I got into our sleeping bags on arrival at about 3. I couldn't sleep for long as I was too cold - a 2 season sleeping bag isn't enough for these sort of treks (I was given extra blankets every night) . Had a luke warm shower and changed into thermals and sat with the other trekkers and porters and guides around a furnace in the communal lounge area. It was toasty - this lovely steel drum with a fire inside. Really all the lodges should do that - it was a great place to stay warm and be sociable. I convinced Angie when she joined me that we deserved chocolate bars for the days efforts - my vegan morals replaced by the need to be comforted by chocolate... We also ate proper meals. Chocolate the medicine for vomiting.
Day 3:
Had a memorable dream about a baby panda and Matthew exhibiting my drawings on a billboard in ridgeway.
A wonderful day - Downhills! I'm great at going downhills, I just sort of flop whereas other people keep trying to control their legs too much but if you just sort of run/fall it's all over and done with with much less expenditure of energy and without all the jarring of the knees.
Saw a glimpse of mountains through the clouds! We have seen only 1 other sighting of a ghostly mountain through clouds en route to Nayapul. The rhododendron forests were all misty and it was very atmospheric - like walking through some sort of story. I never knew rhododendrons could be such big trees - I just thought they were sort of big bushes. But they were huge - and covered in moss and other saprophytes. Beautiful.
Saw monkeys! Literally straight after I complained about the lack of animals. They're quite big with black faces and white around the edge.
Met a NZ couple originally from England. We would meet many other times on the trip - as we did with other people also. But the conversations with these 2 were a little different from most - we talked about cartoons from our childhood - like he Moomins and round the twist. Good times.
Day 4:
[diary entry] My legs!
I probably should have done some sort of training for this, my legs hurt a lot this day and every time you turned in the night you would be woken up with the pain. We'd had to stop at a lodge Mani had never been in before because I don't think Angie and I could face walking up more steps for 45 mins. he lodge we stayed at was very nice though.
This was a tough day. Mostly steps. Mostly up. Mani said it was a 'gentle up' day. His idea of gentle is wildly different from my own idea of gentle. I have never walked up so many steps before - a lot of them are high and steep. They are not all equally placed - which actually makes it easier climbing them.
We arrived at our lodge and were put in the bunker bit of the lodge. Angie and I weren't enthralled - it was by far the worst place so far - a shed - under the seating area above, made of corrugated iron. But I heard another trekker say something about the amazing shower and I suddenly didn't care anymore. Had a hot shower and a chocolate bar and sat in the communal area chatting to some Aussie's and a Dutch man who had all been to base camp but seen nothing but clouds.
Day 5:
[Diary entry] Oh.My.Goodness.My.Legs.
So my legs weren't any better today. Not until I got walking.
More majestical cloud mountains... stopped at a place called Himala for lunch- it took ages and wasnt very nice.
Arrived at another place called Deurali - there's lots of them- to rest for the night. I felt bloated and could eat no dinner and was having some fairly savage farts and felt very cold.
[Diary entry] Why am I such a devastating wreck of illness at the moment. Bloody Nepal - I don't know why I like it here.
I got up 4 times in the night to have diarrhea.
Day 6:
Porridge for breakfast was good. We only had a 2 hour walk to go to Machhupuchhre base camp (its the name of another high mountain)which was just as well as I'd needed the toilet for most of the way. It was through this flat grassy area a lot of the way that reminded me of the Lord of the Rings when Sam and Frodo walked through the misty marshes was it? The rivers had started freezing over around these parts and there were beautiful ice crystals decorating some rocks.
I ate lots of chocolate and biscuits and hot chocolate (medicine food) when we arrived. It's much colder up here -3700m and it started snowing as we arrived and became more severe. Angie read and I drew pictures and wrote stupid stories which is what we do when we arrived at most of the lodges. We also chat to other trekkers - there were lots of very tall Germans here about to climb one of the mountains... they were all clearly insane. The porters here were lovely. One helpful man recommended I asked for combination tomato and garlic soup when I asked which was better - it was very tasty. The pizza here was also magical.
Day 7:Alarm woke us up at 4:30 to leave by 5, walking through the dark and snow to get to Annapurna base camp (ABC)
[Diary entry] Wow! I just don't think words can express how amazing mountains are.
We didn't need to carry bags t the top - although Mani carried a few bits and bobs. I was glad to be warmly wrapped - although just as we were leaving Mani did point out that I'd forgotten my coat (wind sheeter) Oh well - I had a balaclava and 2 wooly jumpers on. A few people had already braved the route before us so we had snowy footsteps to follow. It was easy walking on the crunchy snow, and quite exciting walking in he dark - it felt like Christmas. As the light started coming up Angie and I kept stopping to take photos. nd as the sun rose on our journey there we could see the mountains in the distance light up as though they were on fire. My photos do not do justice to just how stunning it was. We reached base camp at 4130m and were satisfied. I had a snickers and hot chocolate to celebrate. Angie was more restrained.
We went back to MBC for breakfast and had an easy walk downhill - if a little slippy and wet in the slush. My feet got wet despite having been dry all the way up to ABC! Angie and I walked together and Mani went ahead to try and find us a lodge. There was a little confusion when he wasn't where we expected so we continued to walk and walked a lot further than expected. All the way to a place called Bamboo - we met Mani coming the other way to tell us there was no room unless we slept in the dining room. When we arrived there he got us room in a tent! It was remarkably cosy - especially when the gammy leg dog slumped down next to me in the night - there was a partition he must have half unzipped...
Day 8:
Easy day. Mostly down - with LOADS of steps up to Chomrong - but it wasn't nearly as bad as expected. We kept byumping into people we had met earlier in the trip. There were some Nepalese boys I'd met coming back from ABC (they kept falling over) and we had some hot choc and special oreos at Sinuwa (where we slept in the bunker before) before braving the steps to Chomrong where we were going for the famous chocolate cake - they served it at the chomrong cottage where Mani booked us rooms. When lured by chocolate cake I am clearly unstoppable and even he swarm of bees didn't deter me (although I did go down a few steps when I noticed) I arrived at the cottage just as the NZ couple were leaving - they informed me the cake was wonderful. I waited 20 mins for Angie and Mani to catch up. We were shown to our room which had the most amazing views of Machhpuchhre - the fishtail - and another mountain... I forget which. The room was warm and the day was clear. Everything was wonderful. We had choc cake and I ordered 2 pizzas that night for dinner - they were very good!
There were more lovely people here - some interesting Scottish girls, and there was a NZ(?) girl who had a bird book - very interesting - and a Beached Az flask! So cool.
Couldnt sleep as I was listening to music and the stars and mountains were just too beautiful!
Day 9:
[Diary entry] My thighs are so delightfully firm.
Trying to focus more on looking for animals now after seeing the bird book - there are loads of really cute little birds!!! the journey was more even but still mostly down - love it.
We stopped in bee hive view lodge for lunch - you can see wild bee colonies on the cliffs opposite - they looked like little black dots. The place didn't have any of the bees honey... honestly - it's supposed to have drug like properties! I wanted to try some. Mani was quite relieved that I couldn't...
We carried on walking and stopped at Syauli Bazar. It was much warmer now, I bought a lovely turquoise necklace from this Tibetan girl - it cost 700Rs she told me to tell people it cost 1200Rs. We had a tasty Dahl Bhat with Iscus in the tarkari (curry). Mani explained to me that iscus is a type of squash! So interesting!
Day 10:
Final day. Finished the walk in about 2 hours or a little less. Stopped at Nayapul for fizzy drinks and chocolate.
The views are still there.The whole journey down has just been beautiful - so much easier than the trek up and I've not been ill. I'm so glad I've done it. Such a great thing to experience even with all the little struggles.
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